Each month we’ll be featuring one of the fine retailers who have been so supportive of Kitelife and other areas of the kiting community…The retailers you’ll find here are established, proven vendors.
WindPower Sports
3111 S Valley View Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89102
702-220-4340 http://www.windpowersports.com
Floor space:
Retail store 600 sq ft; 1,600 sq ft total (includes store, office, inventory and mail order)
Hours of operation:
M-F 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-2pm
Closed on Sundays
24/7 ordering via web site
Years in business:
10 years.
Years advertising with Kitelife:
Since July of 2004.
Howdy, my name is Corey Jensen and I have WindPower Sports in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I carry a wide variety of kites, but I’m not in a typical retail location, especially for Las Vegas. My main business comes from my website.
I have been doing modern kites since 1977 when I started working at Jane Ambrose’s Skyscrapers Kites in Denver, Colorado.
I bought a 3 stack of original 6’ Flexi Power Kites and caught the power bug right away.
I also learned to fly Fighter Kites around then. I quickly became immersed in the world of kites through the pages of Kite Tails (original newsletter of the AKA) and Kite Lines magazine.
The 3rd Annual AKA Convention came to Seattle in 1980, right after I’d moved back to Oregon, so I attended, mostly wanting some validation from other adult kite flyers.
Folks I met on the field that first day had an effect on me that persists to this day.
Folks like Bob Ingraham, Dave Checkley, Dom Jalbert, George Hamm, Doug Hagaman, Steve Edieken, Jack VanGilder, Kathy Goodwind, Vic Heredia, and the list goes on. Not bad for my first day at my first organized kite festival.
Eventually I served as President of the AKA (in 1988) have been attending every convention since that first one in 1980.
Kiting has taken me around the world – To 5 continents – and introduced me to some of the most enjoyable people I can ever imagine knowing.
I have operated kite businesses (wholesale, retail, import, manufacturing, etc) in various locations over the years.
From Denver, Colorado to Seaside, Oregon to Sausalito, California to Capitola (Santa Cruz), California to our big (2700 square feet) store on Monterey’s historic Cannery Row, where, from 1985-1996 Windborne Kites was the most impressive kite store on the planet (I might be just a bit biased).
I saw Peter Lynn’s first proto-type buggy in 1989 (at Wildwood – Sue Sedgwick w/ a stack of Revs) and had three of my own by 1991 (1 to ride and 2 to share).
Now, with WindPower Sports, I’m specializing in land-based power kites and the vehicles we use; mountainboards and buggies.
I am also the Manta landsailer dealer and get to sail my “dirt boat” and kite/buggy out on the desert dry lakes surrounding the Vegas Valley, nearly year-round.
I’ve been bad… And this is my punishment.
The business side of me prefers to help newcomers find the fun part of kiting more than just sell product, so my store and website reflect that philosophy.
In 1997 I wrote Colors of the Wind – A Guide to Modern Kiting and distribute it worldwide.
I’ve developed a teaching technique for power kiting called “Kite Chi”.
I believe in the Science of Aerodynamics and the Science of Marketing. I know that sometimes they just flat disagree… And I’m good with that.
I like to help folks understand those differences.
I believe in knowledge and skills.
I believe in sharing what I know.
Rather than listing my dietary preferences and what books I say I read, I hope this might provide you, the loyal readers of Kitelife, a glimpse of “the man behind the curtain”. See you on a flying field.
